Ep.20: Where Your Sex Toys Will Be in The Next Five Years

Sex, Lust & Love...What Matters?

Last week I had the pleasure of attending a launch party for a new business at a venue in my neighborhood. My close friend sent me the invite saying, “You write about this kind of stuff so I thought you’d want to check it out.” I looked at the picture of the flyer in his text and immediately thought it was a great business idea; sex toys from a vending machine, The PinkBox Vending Machine.

America’s first sex toy vending machine; pleasure at your fingertips. No more waiting for your friend to have a sex toy party and then waiting 3 weeks for your delivery or going to the nearest adult toy store at 2am feeling seedy, hoping you won’t get spotted by a work colleague or family member. Now you can buy your favorite sex toy, the minute the mood strikes you, right from a vending machine, batteries included.

The party was a nice mix of twenty something’s and many married couples in their 40’s and 50’s. I met one couple celebrating their 20th anniversary. The woman was very attractive and was excited about her purchase. She showed a few of us her new purple Lelo vibrator that dropped down from the very pretty pink vending machine once she inserted her credit card. Her purchase came in a box and looked exactly like it would if you had purchased it from the store.

The new, PinkBox Vending Machine, looks just like an ordinary vending machine where you’d buy your favorite soda, but very tastefully decorated and covered in a pretty pink color. They have options for men and women and the machines can be filled with various sex toys based on the venue and specific needs of the clientele.

Imagine you’re out one night and meet someone or perhaps you’re out with someone special and the mood strikes you. Maybe you no longer have any gadgets lying around the house or you’ve become bored with the ones you own. Now you can buy the latest and greatest sex toys on your way home.

Sex toys have been in our homes for ages and according to the Huffington Post’s article, Sex Toy Sales Per Capita Highest In These Ten States, According To Manufacturer, Americans spend $15 Billion dollars annually on sex toys and 44% of women age 18-60 have used one once in their lives. Of those women, 78% have used one while in a relationship. They also note that married women are twice as likely as single women to purchase a vibrator. When it comes to the part of the country that buys the most vibrators, Wyoming takes the cake. Apparently there’s not much else to do there? Number two is Alaska and North Dakota ranks number three.

One little known fact is that the vibrator was first used in a French Asylum to treat female hysteria.

Adam & Eve’s website states that the first electric vibrator weighed 40 pounds, required two people to use it, not including the person being “treated”, and by 1918 you could purchase a vibrator in a Sears Catalog from their home appliance section, long before the electric iron or vacuum cleaner were available.

The most popular vibrator today is, of course, The Rabbit. Developed in Japan and became popular only because the rabbit ears had to be added to circumvent Japanese Law that a vibrator could not resemble a penis.

According to the Phoenix New Times, the Pearl Royal is the most expensive vibrator and comes adorned with Platinum casting along with pearls, diamonds and sapphires at a price tag of $1,000,000!

Obviously the sex toy industry is not going away anytime soon. In fact, sales have increased more than 50% since the release of “Fifty Shades of Grey.”

So how many of us would buy a sex toy from a vending machine? I know I sure would.

As I watched the two women unveil the Pink Box Vending machine, I couldn’t help but notice the line of women waiting to be the first to make their purchase. You can buy anything from $5.00 condoms to $100 vibrators and you can even get anal beads if you so desire. The machine is very tastefully decorated in a pretty pink color, clearly catering to females.

Since I interview men, I decided to ask some men if they would ever purchase a sex toy from a vending machine. Several men told me, if the woman were open to it, they would happily make a purchase. However, some said that if the woman didn’t suggest it, they would never bring it up or try to get her to do it. Most of the men I spoke to thought it was a fantastic idea to have access like this to sex toys.

I was fortunate enough to speak with Timaree Schmit, Ph.D. Sexuality Educator and Chief Communications Officer at PinkBox vending machines. I asked her about their target market and how they plan to promote the machines.

Dr. Schmit shared with me: “We’re so excited to give people another option for sex toys. There are more and more great boutique stores but they’re not open 24/7 and online options mean waiting for shipping. We wanted to remove any obstacle to accessing pleasure.”

She told me they are looking to place the vending machines in nightclubs first but they have received interest from hotels and gentlemen’s clubs as well. Their target market is any adult who is interested or curious about sexual pleasure or intimacy.

She feels that it will be an impulse buy for some and a regular errand for others.

Regardless, the idea of placing something somewhat taboo in a very classy and tastefully decorated vending machine is brilliant.